By Chloe Grabeman
Have you ever taken the time to really think how strange Jesus’ coming was? How words like “meek” and “mild” seem almost wrong to describe our almighty God?
The birth of Christ.
The most hidden collision of the extraordinary with the everyday.
Angels appearing to shepherds. A grand star guiding wise astronomers. The Son of God, the Messiah, coming to our lowly earth, born of a virgin and placed in a manger.
Nothing was as expected.
I found a song a few years ago that helped me see how gentle and unusual Jesus’ coming was. How this gentleness is such a key attribute to His character that we often neglect to realize. The song is “Winter Snow,” performed by Audrey Assad.
The second verse and chorus read:
You could’ve swept in like a tidal wave
Or an ocean to ravish our hearts
You could have come through like a roaring flood
To wipe away the things that we’ve scarred(But) You came like a winter snow
Quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below
Gentleness was Christ’s way of coming to us. The only way he could come to us; as one of us, human; breaking past the sin that caused our separation.
The most unforced unknown act of love in all of human history.
But perhaps this is not the position from which you are standing this Christmas season. Maybe you’re a little tired and frustrated this year because the thought of Jesus in your life has felt anything but gentle but rather a series of overwhelming and forced events.
Maybe in your experience, a relationship with Jesus has always gone hand and hand with life-changing moments of revelation that seems to happen to everyone but you.
You are left wondering if this relationship requires some spiritual entrance fee or code word you were never informed of.
Well, my friend, I would like to offer some hopefully reassuring words.
The final verse of “Winter Snow” reads:
Ooh no, Your voice wasn’t in a bush burning
No, Your voice wasn’t in a rushing wind
It was still, it was small, it was hidden
Throughout my life, my seeming life-changing moments with God did not happen in one instance. But rather through a process of 100 instances that would sometimes bring me back to Him.
Gently.
This journey has been so much sweeter and deeper than moments of “God in an instance,” because it is how you learn His voice; often not in a rushing wind, but hidden in a whisper.
I want to challenge you to spend some time and read Christ’s birth from the perspective of gentleness. This is how he comes to you. His love is never forced, but always a choice for you to enter into. It will feel weird at first, but what relationship doesn’t?
Get to know Christ for his gentleness. His “meek” and “mild” nature is always the beginning of his mighty work.
Song List:
Winter Snow – Audrey Assad
Known – Tauren Wells
Extravagant – Steffany Gretzinger
Check them out on the Real and True Playlist on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/user/128815512/playlist/3YfqgeMjEUj7ZB8ydKd5qL